When shopping for new destinations, NBA free agents have a few things in common with real estate agents and teenagers seeking prom dates - you don't want to appear too desperate. The more desperation, the less attractive.

What the Cavaliers did on Thursday in pulling off a roster overhaul that saw the team bring in three players heading into their prime years - Larry Nance Jr., Jordan Clarkson and Rodney Hood - without coughing up the team's right to Brooklyn's pick in this year's draft puts them in an enviable situation heading into this summer.

Related News

Before the deadline, the entire future of the Cavs was latched to LeBron James' 2018 free-agency decision. The moves they made, though, allow them to stay afloat as a franchise no matter what James does - and that could make James more likely to stay.

"I would have said it was a 50-50 proposition that he would go back to Cleveland this summer before all of this, even a week ago," one league executive told Sporting News. "I think this moves it more in the Cavs' favor. They're younger and deeper. If the lifestyle is all the same to him, and I don't know that it is, I'd think he would stay in Cleveland.

"I would put it from 50-50 a week ago to now, something like 75-25 that he stays. Even if they don't win this year, they've given themselves room to grow."

The way the Cavs had been constructed, surrounding James with elderly ex-stars and role players who have been dented by injury, made it all too easy for him to look at the Cleveland roster going forward and walk away to the LA sunshine, content with having brought the franchise the 2016 title.

But can James walk away from a team that could be slated for a rebirth, with or without him? Hood is a talented wing, a potential 20-22 points-per-game scorer. Clarkson has Sixth Man of the Year potential. Nance is a valuable role player. Young internationals Cedi Osman and Ante Zizic should be ready to contribute next season. And there's a strong chance the Cavs wind up with a top-five pick in a top-heavy draft.

The feeling among executives around the league is that James will choose between bolting for the Lakers and sticking with the Cavaliers next summer. The Lakers would offer him what he is looking for down the stretch of his career - a good place to move his family, a ready-made winning situation (if he could bring another top-tier star with him) and an opportunity to be connected with the entertainment industry. From a lifestyle standpoint, LA would be hard to beat.

But James remains connected to his home in Ohio, too, and has shown that he can get himself involved in all aspects of industry - from talent management to acting and movie production - even when playing in Cleveland. The Internet is wondrous that way. The challenge for the Cavs was to show that the team had a future beyond the cobbled-together group of misfits it trotted out this year.

And Cleveland has done that.

One reason many have assumed that James would bolt at the end of the year was his fractured relationship with Dan Gilbert, which has deep roots but most recently dates back to the letting go of David Griffin last summer and the team's inability to pull the trigger on a deal for Paul George. That, of course, was followed by the trade of Kyrie Irving to the rival Celtics.

But new general manager Koby Altman has brandished his chops in the last couple of days, pulling off a trio of moves to make the roster younger and better. Unless James has already decided he is leaving - and there's no indication he has made a decision on his future - it would be hard to see what's going on with the Lakers these days and conclude he'd have a better future in LA than in Cleveland.

Of course, wherever James lands, that team becomes an immediate contender. The Cavs are a long way from a championship without him. But quite suddenly, they have assets on hand and a glimmer of a future even without James. They're not desperate for James to stay. Maybe that'll be enough to keep him in place.